-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com hello there. welcome to "newsline." it's thursday, september 27th.

japanese prime minister noda has told the united nations that japan is committed to resolving territorial issues peacefully, but in a speech, he said his country will defend its sovereignty noda did not give countries but spoke at a time of heightened tensions with china and south korea. >> translator: the attempts to use unilateral threats to achieve selfish ends do not accord with the fundamental spirit of the united nations charter. that is unacceptable and goes against the wisdom of humanity. >> he said it's the responsibility of nations to protect their territory. he said that japan will fulfill that responsibility. but he stressed that japan will uphold the principles shared by

the international community under all circumstances. he also criticized south korea for rejecting a proposal to bring the dispute to the international court of justice. he said countries should pay more attention to the function of the international court. noda said japanese officials would respond calmly but his comments brought hill calm in some corners. now more from new york. what were the major points that the prime minister wanted to make in his speech? >> japanese officials were at first reluctant to raise the problems with south korea and china at the general assembly. the forum is for multinational challenges, not bilateral issues. the japanese were concerned they might be criticized for not sincerely contributing to the development of international society. but the theme of this year's general assembly is the rule of law. noda thought he could check recent moves by china and south

korea without naming them as long as his remarks were in line with that theme. he assumed his comments would be understood as an attempt to solve these problems peacefully. the japanese government is developing alliances with the philippines, vietnam, and other countries. those countries are also concerned with china's expansion. noda's speech is seen as reinforcing that policy. >> so what's the future of relations between japan and china and between japan and south korea? >> there is little hope though -- will continue. his china counterpart met in new york on tuesday on the sidelines of the u.n. general assembly.

dealing with the issue. they said two countries should retain a broader perspective. but the chinese stood by their previous insistence that the islands are chinese territory. japanese government officials say china is expected to continue provocative activities near the islands for some time. japan is also hoping to have a foreign minister meeting with south korea in new york. but many observers say if the two ministers meet they are likely only to reiterate their positions without making progress on the territorial dispute. so it appears little will be the result for the time being and the noda administration is expected to face further difficulty in china and south korea.

>> thank you very much. hundreds of chinese have protested in front of the u.n. headquarters. they were angry about the islands. the protesters gathered ahead of noda's speech. >> we need to let them know it belongs to china. >> the demonstrators waved flags and signs demanding they leave the islands. the chinese foreign ministry said japan is infringing on other nations' sovereignty, ignoring history and international law. chinese foreign minister didn't show up for the speech. he's scheduled to speak at the u.n. on friday. he is expected to reiterate chinese claims and pressure

japanese leaders into accepting that a territorial issue exists between them. south korean foreign minister didn't show up either. he rejected the proposal to bring the dispute to the international court of justice. south korean officials believe that no dispute exists over those islands since they control them. two car bombs exploded near the syrian army headquarters in the capital of damascus. the blast killed at least four people. the explosion struck early wednesday morning, they were followed by several hours of gun battles between rebel fighters and government forces in the downtown area. an anti-government activist told nhk the explosions hit the third and fourth floors of the building. four people died. syrian information minister said on a state television that the explosions caused only minor damage. he said there were no casualties and that the terrorist attacks had failed. the army command headquarters is

in an off-limits zone where the presidential palace is located. after months of wrangling deployment of a fleet of u.s. aircraft is about to take place. defense ministry officials say that 12 osprey will be deployed to the u.s. marine corps in okinawa prefecture as early as friday. ahead of the deployment, officials from local municipalities were offered a test ride on the aircraft to ease their concerns. but few have accepted the offer. the test ride will take place on thursday at the air station in yamaguchi prefecture. the osprey is currently undergoing maintenance tests ahead of deployment, but 19 of the 22 invited municipalsies told nhk they have rejected the offer. the officials say they have other commitments. in the city where the aircraft will be deployed officials have

denied the offer. they say they don't want to give the impression that they now think the aircraft is safe. officials from three municipalities say they will take the test plight. japanese voters know the name and the political party. their once prime minister had a decades long lock on governing. the ldp is in opposition now, but with an election on the horizon, members elected abe as their leader hoping he can help push the ruling democratic party out of power. >> reporter: the outcome of the leadership election marks a political comeback. he became prime minister of japan in 2006. but he struggled with poor health and resigned after a year in office. >> translator: my victory today

will not erase my responsibility for suddenly resigning as prime minister five years ago. keeping that in mind, i will try my upmost for the party to regain power. >> abe used his campaign to take a tough stance on japan's territorial disputes. he solidified his support base within the party. lawmakers and local party members cast ballots in the first round of voting. more of them opted for the party. only lawmakers could take part in the runoff and most of them hate abe. public opinion polls suggest that the ldp stands a good chance of forming a government after lee years of dpj rule. and abe may find himself back in the prime minister's office. nhk world, tokyo.

>> abe is already flexing his muscles as the leader. he spoke a couple of hours after winning the top job and outlined why japanese should vote for his party in the next election. >> translator: currently japan's waters and territory are being threatened by other countries. and the economy is struggling with prolonged deflation. we need to solve these problems and create a stronger and more affluent japan. that is my mission. >> abe comes from a political family. his grandfather was a prime minister, too. he was the youngest prime minister of the post war era. he took office at the age of 52.

he visited china and south korea during his tenure and tried to improve relations. his grandfather led japan in the 1950s to 1960. his father served as a foreign minister. abe has promised to use his experience to revise the constitution and to reform education. so abe has a lot of political know-how and a profile. sherry ann spoke with our senior commentator to find out what his return as lpd leader means for voters. >> could abe once again be prime minister? >> that's possible. ruled most of the time since world war ii. voters got tired and fed up. then they kicked the ldp out of power. the democrats took over. but then the earthquake, tsunami

and nuclear disaster last year set the government back. latest polls suggest many japanese feel that the democrats have shown little leadership and that the ldp will win the most seats in the next general election. so the new party leader, abe, could well become japan's next prime minister. >> so now as party leader what will abe be pushing for? >> abe has said that the democrats have undermined japan's diplomacy and security and they've eroded japan-u.s. alliance. he said this allowed china, south korea and russia to reassert their territorial

claims to islands in the region. so i think he'll focus first on rebuilding ties with the u.s. abe has also criticized noda's energy policy, he said abolishing all nuclear plants is not the protocol and would hurt industry. he also said monetary easing is needed in order to overcome deflation and a stronger yen. >> here in japan we have the new party, japan restoration party, being called the third poll of japanese politics. it's become very popular. how does abe view them? >> he's focusing on the every move of the new party carefully. many japanese voters have known party leader toru hashimoto for quite a while. he's the mayor of osaka.

he has often commented on tv. he's a populist and a nationalist. the polls suggest that his party will win more seats than the ruling dpj in the next general election. his party could be a strong rival for the ldp. but no party is expected to win a majority alone. so the new ldp leader abe may need to form a coalition with hashimoto's japan restoration party. >> we know the election is looming, although we don't know when. what happens next? >> abe will have to put the process in motion and he'll have to put the pressure on prime minister noda to hold a general election, i think. noda once promised to do this soon, but he's seen his polling numbers. he may feel it's not a good timing for an election. that said, he needs cooperation from the ldp to keep government services funded. abe could cooperate in exchange for noda's promise to dissolve the lower house. if that happens, you and i will be discussing some of these issues again. >> maritime disputes between china and other asian countries made headlines in recent months. nhk received new footage of a stand-off in may between vessels from china and the philippines. china has a powerful navy to

extend its presence at sea. its economic clout can be just as effective as the philippines's discovery. nhk world reports from manilla. >> reporter: a helicopter hovers at a distance that feels intimidating. this footage was taken in may by the philippines coast guard during a two-month stand-off with chinese vessels. the video shows a crew of a chinese fishing boat helping other chinese vessels to obstruct the philippines coast guard by lowering a rope into the water using that rope to try to block the ship's propellors. in mid june, the philippines coast guard decided to remove all vessels from the area. the chinese surveillance ships have since returned.

they seem to be attempting to exert pressure. one of china's most powerful weapons is economic pressure. the island is among the philippines most famous beach resorts. ever since a confrontation, chinese tourists are nowhere to be seen. chinese travel agencies have stopped selling tours to the philippines citing security concerns. hotels like this one were hit by a wave of cancellations. current occupancy rates are as low as 20%. >> i hope that philippines and chinese will resolve this so our business will go back to normal. >> reporter: in may, china imposed stricter inspections on

bananas from the philippines. exports ground to a standstill. this eight hectare farmland used to be fully planted with bananas. after the china market restricted entry of philippines bananas h year from a high of 16,000 trees, only about 50 have remained. >> translator: since we no longer have access to the chinese market we had to cut down the trees. >> reporter: the administration is struggling to counter chinese assertiveness. one senator involved in the negotiations with beijing says the situation is fragile. >> the skirmishes alone will be very, very serious.

we probably won't be able to control it anymore. you have to agree to set those disputes aside for the time being. >> reporter: the philippines is offering considerable economic damage as a territorial dispute drags on unresolved. china shows no sign of compromise. nhk world, manila. >> the gaming industry is booming in japan driven by a rampant increase in smartphone users. it faces a serious shortage of programmers. a maker of game software organized a programmer contest to find talented people. among the contestants were a handful of high school students.

>> reporter: 22 finalists gathered in tokyo for the contest this month. all of them are students. the total prize money is about $13,000. this is one of three high school students taking part. the three are competing against undergraduate and graduate school students. he became interested in computers when he was in elementary school. he learned how to program video game applications by reading books and online information. >> translator: in programming whether you are in junior or senior high school doesn't matter. even one person can change the world. that's what i like about programming. >> reporter: this company organized the competition. demand for social networking games has been expanding thanks

to a rapid spread of smartphones. last year the market grew to $3.6 billion, 2.5 times what it was in the previous year. the fast expansion is causing a programmer shortage. software companies are putting up online help wanted ads to fill the openings. some offer to pay $230,000 a year. a fierce battle is going on in the industry to hire well qualified programmers. in the contest the participants are asked to write programs that automatically solve a puzzle by rearranging dice. all the problems are designed specifically to test their skills to write gaming programs. the contestants have to come up with ideas to solve the problems and put them into numbers and symbols to make them work. they have two hours to solve five problems.

speed is a big factor, along with the accuracy and quality of their programs. murai couldn't even start solving the last problem. the winner was a junior at the university of tokyo. [ applause ] murai came in eighth. but he was the top winner among the high school students. >> i could have done a little better. still, it was fun. >> translator: it is becoming harder to hire good programmers. we want to hold events like this to outdo our competitors in attracting talented programmers. >> the company plans to host

similar contests in other countries to hire programmers with talent. now let's take a look at the market figures. a japanese research institute says it has created the world's 113th element.

a team created a new element in a particle accelerator. they closely monitored the transition process to other elements and concluded the uh new element is the 113th to exist. if the results are confirmed by an international organization it will be the first asian institute to have the right to name the new element. >> translator: i'm confident in the results and that the creation of a new element is a big step for science. >> there are 94 elements that exist naturally. 20 others have been created by scientists. now the world weather forecast. you have been keeping a close eye on a typhoon east of the philippines. people there are dealing with torrential rain. now the storm is headed for taiwan. what can you tell us? >> the typhoon is now headed for

tie yan and also the southern islands of japan. right now a violent and large typhoon definitely the strongest category typhoon. sustained winds are 200 kilometers per hour with gusts over 270. it looks like it will get close to taiwan or the sakashima islands by saturday morning local time. stormier conditions are in the cards. gusts are likely in the islands on friday. that will get even b faster on saturday. so things will become critical over the next few days here. after that, the system will veer to the northeast. so it will move through the okinawa or other islands of japan for the next couple of -- few days. so things will become severe here. in terms of rainfall we anticipate as much as 100 to 250 millimeters of rain in eastern taiwan and more rain is in the

cards in japan. we anticipate upwards of 350 millimeters in the southern islands of japan. definitely this is enough to cause flooding. all right. we have another severe tropical storm. it continues to pull away from the islands and is now targeting the east islands. stormy conditions are still occurring here. waves could reach eight meters today. as it moves to the northeast, waves will be across the pacific nation. it's not going to make landfall through japan but could activate the frontal system from late this afternoon into friday. thundershowers across the northeastern peninsula.

it should be cooling down to 21 degrees as we look ahead to friday. moving into the americas then, tropical storm amelia continues to weaken and move away from mexico. that's good news. it will continue into thursday as we move into friday. there is a long frontal line from eastern canada to the southern plains bringing severe weather. that means thunderstorms, large hail, damaging winds and tornadoes. the conditions will ease on thursday. out west there is a low pressure system dragging cold air from the north. we can see snowshowers in the central rockies. temperatures look like this. we can see a clear definition. this is where you are seeing severe thunderstorms on

thursday. cooling to the upper teens or the mid teens. for example, 18 degrees in chicago. 17 degrees in toronto. 30 degrees in oklahoma city on thursday. here's your extended forecast.

that's all for this edition of "newsline." thanks for staying with us.